Man City hunt for creative force brutally shut down by manager, with Arsenal swoop also laughed off

Manchester City and Arsenal could both be left frustrated in their pursuits of Bundesliga stars after RB Leipzig manager Marco Rose spoke openly about the futures of Dani Olmo and Mohamed Simakan.

Leipzig have done brilliantly at developing players before selling them on for big profit in recent years. Some of their biggest ever departures include Josko Gvardiol (£78million to City), Dominik Szoboszlai (£60m to Liverpool), Christopher Nkunku (£52m to Chelsea) and Naby Keita (£48m to Liverpool).

Leipzig also sold centre-forward Timo Werner to Chelsea for £45m, though he has since returned to the German club for a reduced fee of £25m.

Those transfers show that Leipzig’s captive market is the Premier League, due to the huge financial power English sides currently posses.

And more Leipzig stars have been tipped to head to England recently. On Wednesday, it emerged that City are keeping tabs on attacking midfielder Dani Olmo. Pep Guardiola seemingly views Olmo as a perfect replacement for Kevin De Bruyne, who has picked up a hamstring injury.

However, City have been told that Olmo will cost between €80m-100m (£68.5m-85.6m).

And on Thursday, Fabrizio Romano revealed how defender Simakan is on Arsenal’s shortlist as they look to replace Jurrien Timber, who has suffered an ACL injury.

Ahead of Leipzig’s Bundesliga clash against Bayer Leverkusen, Rose was asked about the futures of Olmo and Simakan.

Marco Rose downplays two Premier League transfers

He laughed off the transfer rumours saying (via MDR and Sport Witness): “I think Dani feels super comfortable with his role here at the moment.

“Nothing is impossible in this business, but I don’t hope that anyone thinks there’s a door open. I could say now: only about my … But I’m not saying that.

“Simakan to Arsenal, Olmo to Manchester City, I think Sesko is already dissatisfied and wants to go to Inter Milan. At some point it’s good too.

“What should the people outside believe and what not? I need a team to be able to play football. If this is to remain ambitious, I also need good players.”

Olmo would be a great signing for City. He looks set for a big season, having recently netted a hat-trick for Leipzig during their German super cup win over Bayern.

Simakan, meanwhile, has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time, and scouts have watched him in action repeatedly. He is versatile just like Timber, with the ability to operate as a centre-half, right-back or defensive midfielder. And at 23 years of age, Simakan has plenty of time to develop into a top-class defender.

Unfortunately for City and Arsenal, they will have to put up huge sums of money to sign those targets this summer as Rose is under the impression they are not going anywhere.

Meanwhile, City have been left stunned as Tottenham and West Ham have joined them in the pursuit of an electric attacker.